How to Make a Tie Shirt for your Child

I'm addicted (slightly less addicted than my friends, but getting there) to Pinterest.  I've got a whole pinboard full of fun craft ideas that I can't wait to work on!  So this weekend, while Diego was being a social-butterfly at a little girl's party (his aunt took him out).  I decided it was the perfect opportunity to work on my first project.  Which would it be?  Hmmm so many possibilities! I chose the T-shirt Tie!  I love how it came out!  All I need now are arm warmers like these and Diego is GQ!  LOL!

Here are the steps I performed (Note:  there was no tutorial for this so I did it out of my own warped imagination.  I don't sew, but I have will power - and my mom, LOL!  I made mistakes along the way, so I'll let you know what those were:

SUPPLIES:

Plain T-shirt (Any color)

Fabric for Tie (Any color/pattern)

Pencil

Ruler

Fabric Marker/Chalk

Scissors

Pins

Sewing Machine

Cardstock Paper for Stencil (or a manila folder)

Quilt batting (optional - to give the tie more dimension)

1. On the cardstock, draw the shape of a tie that will fit nicely on the size Tshirt that you have.

 2.  Use scissors to cut out the tie shape (When you cut, you should cut the knot separately from the rest of the tie.)

 3.  Use the cut-outs as a stencil and trace them onto your chosen fabric.  Make sure that you leave about an inch of space in between the two pieces.  (HINT:  If you are using a diagonal pattern, make sure that you make the diagonals at different - almost opposite - angles between the two pieces for a more "realistic" effect. See the blue tie below.)

4.  Take your ruler and draw all the way around the stenciled shape about 1/2-inch.  Shown here in blue fabric pencil.   

 5.  Take your stencil cutouts again and trace the pattern onto the quilt batting (optional).

5.  Cut out the patterns on the quilt batting an the tie fabric.   (For the tie fabric - make sure you cut out along the outermost line that you drew.)

6.  Pin the quilt batting to the back of the tie fabric.  Make sure your pin is on the face of the tie!  (Easier to remove afterwards).

7.  Following the innermost lines that you drew on the tie fabric, fold the extra tie fabric over the quilt batting on the back.  MAKE SURE THAT YOUR PINS ARE FACING FRONT!  The pic below was wrong. 

8.  Pin the tie onto the T-shirt leaving enough space around the edges for the sewing machine.

 9.  Have your mother take over, and sew the tie onto the T-shirt.  (HINT 1:  It's best to pin the knot first, then sew, then pin the bottom of the tie and sew.  HINT 2:  It's best to sew on the machine from the bottom opening of the T-shirt, not the neck opening.)

9.  And voila!  T-shirt ties.  Have your little munchkin sport the shirt at his next mixer.  LOL!